Pushing Her Limits (Masters of Adrenaline 3)

He still wasn’t sure how all of this had happened. He’d gone to her apartment expecting her to throw him out of the building—maybe even file a restraining order—but instead she’d let him in and they’d talked it out. Then fucked it out. Then talked it out more. Now she was more or less living at his place, although she hadn’t given up her apartment yet.

She loved his family. He loved her family. Even her father, the ex-cop, accepted him, knowing what he’d been. The only initial holdout about the situation was Fox, who’d insisted on calling her Atlas’s pet cop. The two had formed an interesting brother/sister teasing dynamic over the past few visits, though, so there was peace.

“I could do this with you all day.” He smiled into her hair, pulling her more tightly into the curve of his body.

“Grope me while trying not to wake up babies?”

“Laze around watching babies sleep.” He kissed her cheek and slipped a hand over her stomach. “I want to put a baby in this pretty belly. Are you going to make an honest man of me and marry me first?”

She was very still and quiet for a moment, and her cheeks turned mottled red. “You’d better not be proposing to me while we’re lying on the floor in your nephews’ nursery.”

“If I was, would you say yes?”

“No. You’d have to step up your game, lazy man.” She elbowed him playfully. “I expect a real proposal that’s a little more . . . romantic. And vertical. How many kids would you expect me to give you anyway?” she asked, peeking at him over her shoulder.

“I want twenty-five, but I’ll settle for any or none if I get to marry you.”

The edge of her mouth tilted up in a smile.

“Twenty-five? I think that ship has sailed. You’d need a younger wife.” She pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him, lying with her head on his chest.

“I don’t mind that you’re four years older than I am,” he said, trying not to shake with mirth. “It hardly even slows you down.”

She bit his nipple through his shirt, and he grunted then swatted her ass.

“Twenty-five is not a serious number.”

“Well, if we get you some fertility drugs, you might only have to have sex with me a few times.”

“Yes, because that’s what’s holding me back from having twenty-five kids. The idea of having copious amounts of sex with you.”

“Harsh, but I completely understand.” He patted her back, pretending to comfort her. “You only had two orgasms this morning, so you’re cranky.”

“You know it, bitch.”

“So . . . that wasn’t an answer.”

“Well . . . if you ever seriously ask me the question, sir, you’ll get your answer.”

He wrapped his arms around her tighter. Fair enough.

Epilogue

The house was dark and silent. Weird. Atlas had said he’d be home when she got off work. The car he usually drove was in the driveway, but with his collection he could have taken any number of cars or motorcycles out.

She dropped her keys on the counter, took off her badge, belt, and service piece, then hung up her jacket.

“Atlas?”

Emptiness echoed back at her.

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he got called out to fix a network problem. Those trips always cost the businesses a pretty penny. The first time he’d been called out, she’d worried. But when he’d shown her invoice after invoice of what companies were paying him to hack them, she’d relaxed. He was actually making more money now than he ever had as a thief, and he was always on the hunt for new employees.

After the slow shift she’d had, she’d been hoping to come home to some crazy wild bondage scene. It was terrible how real life got in the way of the fun stuff.

She kicked her boots off by the door, then went up the stairs to their bedroom, looking forward to a shower, at least. Maybe Atlas would wake her up for some fun when he got home. He was such a perverse man though. Sometimes he woke her up just to hang out, if he knew she wasn’t working the next day. No sex, just talking.

When she was down to her panties, she stretched, then froze. A cold blade pressed against her throat.